To Understand Finland, Start in the Sauna

National Sauna Day is important to the Finns. As I stood in Rajaportti Sauna, a public sauna in Tampere that has welcomed bathers for more than 120 years, I read the Declaration of Sauna Peace in English as part of Finland’s National Sauna Day. Around me, people settled quietly onto wooden benches. It was one of the first moments during my week in Finland that I realized I had misunderstood what a sauna really was. Like many Americans, I arrived thinking a sauna was about heat. The Finns gently showed me it was about something much larger. “Sauna is simple,” my guide in Finland told me. “It’s good for your body, for your mental health, and it is about community.” Finland, a country of about 5.6 million people, has an estimated three million saunas. They can be found in apartment buildings, cabins, offices, hotels, and city neighborhoods. In Tampere—officially recognized as the Sauna Capital of the World since 2018—there are more public saunas than anywhere else on Earth. There was even one in my hotel bathroom. More Than Heat The first surprise for many visitors is that Finns don’t treat the sauna as a wellness trend or a luxury reserved for special occasions. It is simply part of ...